Blog Archives

Air Lanka: A Taste of Paradise?

30/9/2015

Air Lanka tookover from its predecessor Air Ceylon as Sri Lanka itself entered a period of turmoil, which would last for over twenty years. Throughout that entire period the white Peacock of Air Lanka would continue to connect the nation to the world, focusing on service if not always punctuality (the airline's designator UL was cheekily expanded to 'Usually Late' by detractors). The workhorse of the fleet was Lockheed's trusty Tristar and I well remember seeing them at Gatwick as a child providing a splash of colour and "a taste of paradise".

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American 720 or 707-123B: An HF Aerial Puzzle

27/9/2015

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I investigate the history of every of the over 1000 models in my 1:400 scale collection and regularly in doing so I learn new things about the airlines and aircraft the models depict. Way back in February 2014 I acquired an American Airlines model registered N7551A. In the model databases (and on its box) it is listed as a Boeing 720 whilst it is also missing its HF tail antenna (the spike at the tail top that the 707 is well known for) like some 720s did. But is it really a 720 at all?

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Wardair Goes For Broke: First A310s in North America

25/9/2015

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Deregulation of the Canadian market gave Max Ward the chance he had been waiting for since the 1960s - to finally get out there and compete against the big boys of Air Canada and CP Air. Sadly Wardair bit off more than it could chew with some stonking great orders, which included quite a lot of Airbus A310s. I remember getting to see them at Gatwick as a boy in the late 80s.

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Shanghai's Mad Dog Freighters: MD-11s in China

23/9/2015

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The MD-11 as a passenger aircraft was not a wild success. Failing initially to meet performance guarantees and suffering a poor safety record for a modern aircraft the type nevertheless provided China Eastern's first grounding in long-haul operations and has excelled globally as a freighter. Less than ten aircraft were operated by Chinese airlines but they operated for over 20 years as both passengers and cargo haulers, more than proving the worth of the last of the tri-jets.

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Aeroflot Goes West Pt2: Sixth Freedom Freighter

20/9/2015

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Aeroflot had long taken the opportunity to exploit Russia's vast geographic advantage to operate sixth freedom passenger flights able to offer shorter services connecting Europe to Asia using Moscow as a connection point. The same was true of cargo flights which during the Soviet era utilised the Ilyushin IL-76. The IL-76s would continue to operate these services but would be joined by a Cold War era Western type, eventually at the expense of new Russian equipment.

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Aeroflot Goes West Pt1: Double-Eagle A310s

19/9/2015

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Glasnost and Perestroika signalled seismic changes in super power relations but also in the market conditions that faced Eastern-bloc airlines. Soviet types were rugged and effective but had not been designed in an atmosphere where cost effectiveness was a primary concern, whilst Soviet engineering was decades behind the West. In terms of operating costs no Russian type, until perhaps the Superjet, has been able to rival those of comparable Western jets. The sudden need for profitability led even Aeroflot itself towards Western equipment choices despite pressures to buy homegrown.

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From Florida to Indonesia in 30 Years: The History of a 737

14/9/2015

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One of the interesting things about acquiring a new aircraft model is looking back at the airframe and seeing where it came from and went to. Many historic aircraft, especially Douglas and Boeing jets, often have long and varied histories. Nowadays with the seeming shorter lives of aircraft due to both the high price of spares on the after market and the seemingly lighter build of aircraft designs this sort of longevity appears to be a thing of the past. We can still marvel however at the careers of older aircraft and Aeroclassics recent TAESA 737-200 is a good example.

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September's Arrivals at Yesterday's Airlines

13/9/2015

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Just in case anybody was worried that I might be running out of blog post material here at Yesterday's Airlines I can allay your fears with news of the arrival of August's purchases. As you may know I recently got back from a 3 week trip to the UK via Malaysia and during that period I had my 'drug' dealer Michael at Waffle Collectibles hold onto my purchases for me until I got back. Happily in doing so I was able to save some of the ever increasing postage costs associated with getting 1:400s from California to Auckland and a day after I got home I received an impressive box containing 25 models, swiftly followed by another with 6 more inside.

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All Change @ China Eastern: New Brand, New 777s

9/9/2015

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November 2014 was a milestone in the history of China Eastern Airlines. The Shanghai based airline is the second largest in China and eight largest in the world in terms of available seats however the big three Chinese airlines are renowned for their conservatism and none had previously altered their liveries in the 25 plus years since they split from the old CAAC. Still the new identity is definitely evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

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My First Visit to ARD

7/9/2015

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Living in New Zealand can be a problem for the aeroplane model collector. With less than 5 million people in the whole country there is barely enough demand to support bricks and mortar model shops at all let alone any dedicated to aviation memorabilia. For the past few weeks I've been back in the UK visiting family and with London alone home to about twice New Zealand's entire population there is scope for two shops just for die-cast airliners - both run by Aviation Retail Direct. With a day to myself in London town I managed to get away with a visit to one of them.

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VC10s Take the Tartan: BUA to BCal

2/9/2015

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By 1969 British United had a new lease of life and was rapidly transitioning to an all jet fleet based around the BAC One-eleven and Vickers VC10. The latter were utilised on its scheduled network to South America, East, West and Central Africa as well as Affinity Tour Charters to the USA. Despite this it remained constrained and even though not state controlled it would be Government meddling that would dictate its future.

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Air Lanka: A Taste of Paradise?

American 720 or 707-123B: An HF Aerial Puzzle

Wardair Goes For Broke: First A310s in North America

Shanghai's Mad Dog Freighters: MD-11s in China

Aeroflot Goes West Pt2: Sixth Freedom Freighter

Aeroflot Goes West Pt1: Double-Eagle A310s

From Florida to Indonesia in 30 Years: The History of a 737

September's Arrivals at Yesterday's Airlines

All Change @ China Eastern: New Brand, New 777s

My First Visit to ARD

VC10s Take the Tartan: BUA to BCal

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